Angolan Ambassador visits OPEC Secretary General

Vienna, Austria, 4 May 2017--OPEC Secretary General HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo on Tuesday (May 2) received Angola’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Austria, HE Maria de Jesus Ferreira, at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna.

HE de Jesus Ferreira thanked HE Barkindo on behalf of the Angolan government for the efforts of OPEC to return stability and balance to the oil market through last year’s historic decisions taken at the 170th (Extraordinary) Meeting of the OPEC Conference in Algiers, on September 28, 2016, the 171st Ministerial Conference in Vienna on November 30, 2016, and the Declaration of Cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Vienna on December 10, 2016. She offered Angola’s “continued encouragement and support” to the Organization.

The OPEC Secretary General conveyed his deep appreciation for the Ambassador’s visit, and highlighted the vital role Angola has played in restoring confidence and consensus to OPEC, specifically in helping reach last year’s landmark decisions. He also told the Ambassador that Angola had taken the lead in the voluntary production adjustments in the first three months of 2017. “Angola has been faithfully taking on board its obligations, in fact, beyond what was expected,” the Secretary General said.

HE Barkindo added that steadily the market was rebalancing following the conformity efforts of the 24 OPEC and non-OPEC participating nations. “We are gradually seeing inventories come down, and positive sentiment return to the market,” he said.

Both HE Barkindo and HE de Jesus Ferreira underscored the long history of positive relations between Nigeria, the home country of the Secretary General, and Angola, as well as the similar challenges both have faced in recent decades.

HE de Jesus Ferreira stressed that Angola had learnt a lot from Nigeria’s experience, particularly in terms of the development of its oil resources. The Secretary General commended Angola on its tremendous development since the turn of the century, under the great vision of its President, José Eduardo dos Santos.

HE Maria de Jesus Ferreira, Angola's Ambassador & Permanent Representative to Austria with HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC Secretary General

HE de Jesus Ferreira met with HE Barkindo at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna